LEADERSHIP
IT STARTS WITH YOU!
As a business and leadership coach, I work with businesses owners, leaders and executives every day. Through my Coach the Coach ™ program I also coach other coaches. When it comes to leadership, the biggest (and loudest) message I can send is to lead by example. If you are the business owner who ‘rips off’ your customers, then how can you be possibly shocked when your own staff attempts to rip you off? Top fitness coaches don’t smoke, drink excessively and ‘pig out’ on burgers. If you expect others to do as you say, then you need to do it yourself.
Leadership Tips Walk the Talk
Everything you expect of others, you should be expecting of yourself. If you are a business owner who wanders in at 10am, takes 3 hour lunches and spends the afternoon shopping online, then you’ve set the bar pretty low for those under you. In my decades of being a business owner and an employer, I did everything I expected of my team, times ten. Page 34
Earn Respect
Whilst some business owners may believe that they should simply be respected because they sign the pay cheques, there is more to it. If you swear at your staff, lose your temper or go around ranting and raving, then they will not respect you. Please – never reprimand your staff via email or in front of others, especially clients or customers. That is poor form and inappropriate and certainly shows no respect.
The Carrot is so much better than the Stick
When you are a leader or employer, the staff under you can do one of two things (and still keep their job) – that is either going above and beyond or doing the bare essentials. For those of you who want productive team, these are the staff who are motivated, love their job, respect their boss and enjoy coming to work. Those who live in the shadow of the stick are in fear of being sacked, abused, yelled at. They have no reason to give you more than the basics – just enough to retain their job – until they find something better.
Remember, not all staff are there for the money – staff stay for many reasons including job satisfaction, feeling appreciated, feeling valued and growth or advancement opportunities. So, for the ‘carrot’ what are some examples of this? It can be financial. You can offer an incentive bonus if a KPI (Key Performance Indicators) or milestone is achieved. One thing I did with one client was that we put KPIs in place for the staff and if they achieved their set goals (which were achievable) by Friday morning, then they got to go home at lunchtime on Friday and still be paid. That was a great motivator to get on with the job, work hard, achieve the goals and get an early mark. Carrots can be as simple as showing appreciation of staff publicly or in front of other team, including staff awards. It can be taking them out to lunch, particularly after a business win or as simple as flowers, chocolates or a good old fashioned (but genuine) thank you. Happy staff are productive staff. Productive staff make a business money.
